The Advantages of Reactive Maintenance for Your Business

With any business premises, there will be many times when problems will arise and repairs and maintenance will be needed. It may be that a few cosmetic fixes may be required, or in other cases, big problems could occur preventing the smooth running of a business. With this in mind, it’s essential for businesses to have solid maintenance plans put in place. For some businesses, a pre-planned maintenance system may need to be put in place, however, this can be expensive and require a lot of resources.

For many small businesses without permanent maintenance staff, there are a number of advantages to hiring reactive maintenance services from a London handyman, most of all the cost:

Initial cost – One of the biggest and most popular advantages of relying on a reactive maintenance system from a maintenance firm is that the initial cost involved will be little if anything. If you do not require any maintenance work initially, there may be no costs until there is a problem that needs to be fixed. Whereas a pre-planned maintenance system would usually require considerable investment in pre-planning, setting up systems and procedures, setting up a reactive maintenance service is simple. Other than ensuring that there is a point of contact to get in touch with a handyman quickly, there is little to do to begin a reactive maintenance operation.

Reduced maintenance costs – With most reactive maintenance services, you will only have to pay for the services you receive. If systems such as heating and cooling installations are only maintained when they fail, this can cut out the cost of regular maintenance, which can be a very beneficial to small businesses. In the case of other work such as carpentry, joiner, plastering, painting and decorating, this can be dealt with as it is required, rather than all at once, cutting down costs considerably in many cases.

Why hire a reactive maintenance company?

If your business doesn’t have the resources to deal with reactive maintenance in house, it is important to turn to the services of an experience reactive maintenance team. In most cases, maintenance companies are made up of teams of extremely experienced tradesmen with skill and knowledge in a wide variety of areas, for example:

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•          Heating and cooling systems maintenance and repair
•          Carpentry and joinery
•          Plastering, painting and decorating services
•          Flooring systems
•           Fencing
•           Pressure washing and graffiti removal

By arranging to work with a reactive maintenance company, you can be sure that problems will be fixed properly, allowing you to gain the peace of mind that you will be less likely to face the same problems on a regular basis. In many cases, reactive maintenance companies can work at a time to suit you, ensuring that your business suffers from minimal disruption. In some cases a problem may need to be fixed immediately so that normal business can continue, however, on most occasions, it is more likely that work can wait and a maintenance team will simply complete the work required at a suitable time.

Click here for more information on reactive maintenance services for your business.

Why your New Year should start with a new office refurbishment

This month marks the beginning of a New Year and a new beginning; not only in our personal lives but particularly at work. Employees have been enjoying the recent Christmas break, so why not give them something else to look forward to – a new refurbished office.

Employees spend on average up to half of their lives working in an office, and when so much time is spent at work it’s rewarding and important to have a comfortable, spacious and inspiring place to work in. We provide a range of exterior and interior services in London to help you with some of the changes you may consider such as:

·         Painting and decorating

·         Flooring

·         Exterior refurbishment

·         Carpentry and joinery

·         Office refurbishment

·         Heating and cooling installations

·         Partitions

Even the smallest of changes can increase productivity within the workplace, and we can provide a range of services to you to give your office, based in London that new look and feel that you want to help start your New Year.  We want to help you as much as possible, so here are some reasons why your New Year should begin with a refurbishment:

1)      It will provide you with an opportunity to further invest in your employees by including some of the culture and needs they would like at work

2)      It can help to work towards the future of the company through its look and design

3)      A new look to your work place could attract more potential clients, and impress existing ones

Every New Year starts with resolutions, so refurbishing your office could be one ticked off your list. Here at Maintainabuild our team have a range of experience providing a range of refurbishment services in London. If you would like to find out more please contact Maintainabuild.

Get More For Less With Office Partitions

Office partitions are a great way to alter the layout of your working environment and get more from the space you have available, while still providing some privacy for your employees. Adding office partitions has many advantages, not least of which is the low cost – putting up office partitions is always going to be a lot less expensive than building permanent walls. Another advantage with partitions is the fact that they can be moved around to accommodate a different office plan. Quick and easy to install and great for allowing natural light into the working space, office partitions are the way to go in the modern office environment.

Communication is key to the efficiency of any workplace, and physical barriers – such as permanent walls - can serve to cut people or departments off from each other. Walls and doors can be isolating for those inside, and less welcoming – even intimidating – to those on the outside. People find it easier to communicate when they can see each other, or when there is a less formal division of sections or departments. With office partitions, you can create a more fluid and relaxed working atmosphere, which encourages people to interact, while still providing a good level of privacy so that people are able to concentrate and work in peace.

Office space can be expensive to rent or lease, especially in London, so getting the most out of the space you do have is vital. With office partitions, you have a number of options of designs and styles to help you create smaller rooms or sections. Glass partitions are ideal for allowing the maximum amount of natural light into an office plan, as well as having excellent fire retardant and acoustic properties. With glass partitions, employees will feel as if they are working in a more spacious environment. Blinds can be added to glass partitions where more privacy is required, such as in interview rooms, or for meetings.

Cubicle partitions are another popular choice and ideal for getting the most out of a small space. These partitions allow employees to create their own private space and provide adequate room for a desk, computer, filing system, and a few personal items. Floor-to-ceiling partitions create more of a demarcated area but offer the same flexibility as other styles, in that they can be easily rearranged.

It’s possible to have a mixture of partitions styles all within one office – the choice is yours. Another benefit of office partitions that hasn’t been mentioned so far is the fact that you won’t have any walls to paint or paper! Office Partitions London are the experts when itcomes to installing office partitions in the capital, so be sure and contact them for advice.

Reactive Maintenance Services for Businesses

If you are a business owner, or have the responsibility of running a business, you will no doubt understand that all kinds of unforeseen problems can be thrown in your direction at any time, so it is important that you are able to react to such problems quickly and efficiently to ensure the continued smooth running of your business.

For any business, there are any number of things that could wrong, including problems with their premises. It is therefore important that a business has plans put in place should there be an urgent maintenance problem. In order to make sure that their business suffers from only minimal disruption or loss of business, many businesses choose to take advantage of reactive maintenance services that they can rely on at any time should a problem arise in their premises.

A reactive maintenance business and their workforce of dedicated and professional tradesmen are highly trained, and prepared to tackle a wide variety of maintenance and repair services, as quickly as possible. Whether it is only a small problem that needs attending to, or a much larger emergency job, reactive maintenance services tradesmen can be fully relied on to make sure things get back to normal quickly.

If a problem is not major, it may be that a business can wait to get it fixed, and in this case a reactive maintenance team can arrange to sort the problem out at a time that is suitable for the business, even after closing hours. However, for emergencies, reactive maintenance services ensure that the problem is dealt with immediately to prevent any further damage or business loss.

Many reactive maintenance companies have experience in dealing with a whole range of problems that might occur on business premises. Services that are commonly supplied include carpentry and joinery, plastering, painting and decorating, flooring, fencing, pressure washing and graffiti removal and even heating and cooling maintenance and installations. By hiring reactive maintenance services, businesses can essentially cover themselves for any manner of problems that they may be faced with.

For more information on reactive maintenance services in London and the south east of England, you can visit the Maintainabuild website.

Why It’s Best To Leave The Task Of Installing A New Bathroom To A Professional Bathroom Fitter

When selling a house, the bathroom is the second key room which potential buyers will look for, following the kitchen.  A well designed bathroom which has been fitted to a high standard will often push a buyer to make an offer on the property, so when fitting a new bathroom it’s really important to get it just right.  Although many people will be tempted to have a go at fitting their own bathroom in order to keep costs down, it really is a much more sensible option to use the services of a professional bathroom fitter to ensure the job is carried out properly.

Most bathroom fitters will either have a plumbing or a tiling background, so when gaining quotes from potential fitters try and find out more about their qualifications and experience.  Although a plumber may be able to fit the toilet, sink and shower, they may struggle with other tasks such as light fittings, tiling, painting and decorating.  Instead, they may contract this out to a professional from that field, which although it will give a better result, may mean that project bathroom will take a little longer.

The bathroom fitter should help you to design your new bathroom to make the most efficient use of space and light.  They can offer practical help and advice regarding whether the waste pipe can be moved and whether an electric shower would be more powerful than a power shower, as this is dependent upon water pressure.

It’s a good idea to ask the bathroom installer to project manage the fit of the bathroom, particularly if outside contractors are going to be working on tasks such as the electrics or plastering.  This way, the bathroom installer can work out who needs to come in on what day so that everything runs smoothly.  After all, there’s no point in asking the decorator to come in and emulsion the walls if the plasterer has not yet finished!

Fitting a bathroom which has been well designed to make the best use of space and has been fitted to a high standard can increase the value of a home.

If you are trying to locate a reputable bathroom fitter or if you would like to find out more about the role of a bathroom installer then feel free to visit the Maintainabuild website.

Our Top Tips When Planning A Commercial Refurbishment

Whether you’re a small business or a larger corporation, at some point it is inevitable that your working premises will need to be refurbished at some point.  Having a clean, well-presented and fit for purpose office or factory is vital for ensuring that productivity levels remain high.  Here at Maintainabuild we can carry out both office and commercial refurbishments for a wide range of sectors, and we’ve put together a few top tips for you to think about when planning a commercial refurbishment:

·         Contact a handful of builders to find out if they are able to carry out the full project, from the initial drawings to completing the snagging list.  You will need to check with the builder that your ideas will all be viable and they are the most suitable designs for the task.

·         Ensure that you have the relevant consent to carry out the work.  If you hire an architect then they may be able to complete the checks, but if not, you may need to contact the landlord, council or other relevant parties yourself.

·         Plan ahead – will your business still be able to function whilst the building work is going ahead? If not, try to find a temporary solution to ensure that productivity does not drop for too long.

·         Ensure that the builder offers you a project manager who will oversee the whole refurbishment.  This means that you will have one point of contact which will ease communication and will save you time from trying to work out who to speak to regarding a particular issue.

·         Be sure to keep an eye on the budget for your project.  Many projects end up costing a little more than planned due to unexpected issues, so it is essential that you have a contingency plan for hidden extras.

·         Try to keep in regular contact with your project manager, just to ensure that if there are any delays or additional tasks which need to be carried out, you can inform your workers.

If you’re planning a commercial refurbishment and you would like to find out more about our services, feel free to visit the Maintainabuild website for further information.  

Freshen Up Your Shop With An Interior Fit Out

The way a shop interior is laid out and presented is vital to a customer’s first impression.  Shops which have been around for a number of years may start to look a little tired and shabby, and if their branding has changed then it makes good sense to carry out an updated interior fit out.  It is inevitable that flooring will become worn out and walls will become marked, and so a ‘freshen up’ can make the world of difference.

Before starting the interior fit out, it makes sense to draw up a floor plan which will outline the space available for the stock.  It may be that existing walls can be knocked down in order to open up space, or in the case of retail clothing outlets, partition walls may be put up so as to create spacious changing rooms.  It really pays to make the best use of space in order to allow customers to browse easily without tripping over stock which may be stored on the floor and to create the feeling of a light and airy shopping environment.

When carrying out an interior fit out London, most business owners will need the project to be carried out in the shortest time possible so as to reduce the amount of business down time.  However, the builders must be aware not to skimp on quality or craftsmanship, as this will be visible once the fit out is complete.

Of course, commercial interior fit outs are not just limited to retail stores.  Commercial kitchens in restaurants and hotels will also need to be renovated after a number of years as they may need larger ovens or freezers, or more modern kitchen equipment may need to be installed.  Kitchen hygiene standards have to be rigorously high and it is often easier to keep modern appliances clean than old, shabby ovens and cupboards.

When working with a London based interior fit out firm, it can be easier to deal directly with a single point of contact.  The Project Manager should oversee all aspects of the project, including liaising with the building contractors, to make sure the project is completed on time and within budget.

Here at Maintainabuild our team have vast experience in completing a range of interior fit out projects in London and beyond.